


A Prelude

by pinkcoat



Series: A Million Routines [1]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates, Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Dancing, Dancing Lessons, F/M, Harassment, Shyness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:06:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26147638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinkcoat/pseuds/pinkcoat
Summary: Corrin attempts to dance around an offer, but luck is on Laslow's side.
Relationships: Azur | Inigo/My Unit | Kamui | Corrin, Lazward | Laslow/My Unit | Kamui | Corrin
Series: A Million Routines [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1904272
Kudos: 9





	A Prelude

The mess hall was bustling with soldiers, yet one still managed to stand out above the rest.

Corrin watched him out of the corner of her eye with growing annoyance. He'd been staring for a while now, flinging his head down into his plate whenever he thought she'd caught him—only to resume gaping moments later. She didn't know if he thought what he was doing was cute,—or worse, clever—but she didn't have time to bother with his antics. Returning attention to her own food, she tried to focus on anything but the holes being burned into her head. Sadly, this attempt at ignoring only lasted a short while, as Laslow soon made his way over.

Saddling in right next to her, his smile was blinding. "Hello, Lady Corrin! I was wondering, if you'd be so inclined as to—"

"Sorry, Laslow," she interjected and raised her hand, as if to block his smile's glare. She scrambled to think of something, anything to stop him from going on. "I'm pretty busy with," she paused to point at her food, " _this_ —didn't eat much this morning, y'know..."

He was quick to grow concerned at her admission, yet was unaware of Corrin's pained cringing brought on by her own poor excuse. "Oh, no! Have you fallen down with something?" Without thinking, he brought a hand up to check her forehead, but drew it back with a gasp when she jumped. "I'm _so_ sorry!"

To get out of his infamous "tea-times," she would gladly have played the sick card had the sincerity in his apology not made her feel bad. "N-no, it's fine, I promise!" she tried to assure him. "I'm alright, I just wasn't that hungry, is all..."

The worry left him a bit too quickly for her liking. "If you say so!" Already beaming again, he added, "In any case, how about we continue this over a cup of tea...?"

Nope. "Sorry, but I have to head over to Xander's right after this, I need to talk to him about something..." She trailed off in the hopes of him taking the hint.

He didn't. "Oh! If it's alright, I'd be honored to walk you there." He punctuated his offer with a half-bow.

It was stupid to use Xander as an excuse—he's his retainer, for goodness' sake!—but she didn't have time to get angry (nor time to rope _him_ of all people into this growing mess). She had to think of something else, quick—but couldn't. "A-actually, if it's alright, I'd like to just go by myself." Her words came out slow, strangled.

His smile simply softened at the accustomed rejection. "Of course, that's fine!" Feeling he's overstayed his welcome, he stood up, about to take his leave, when another idea crossed his mind. She barely hid a grimace as he suddenly wheeled back to face her. " _Actually,_ one last thing..."

Her face twitched into a painfully polite smile, "Yes?"

"I remember how, in the past..."

Oh, gods.

"You'd mentioned how you aren't too well versed in dance, so... I was thinking..."

Here it comes...

"If you've time to spare tonight, how'd you like me to teach you a few steps?"

To anybody happening to walk by, it seemed as if she were honestly considering his polite if timid offer—but in reality, she was simply freezing up. Though she dreaded being outright rude, it never usually took more than one "no" to get him out of her hair—at least for the rest of that day. But to see him so quiet and shy about this, not to mention the shift from tea to dancing. It took an extra second to formulate a response. "I can't tonight, I've got watch duty."

Subaki was strolling past just as she said this, and he was quick to pick up on her tone. Mistaking it for genuine vexation, he swooped in to save the day. "You've been too hard on yourself lately, Corrin," he playfully chided as he thrust himself into the conversation—all the while ignoring the irony in his words. "I'll take your shift tonight—you should just relax."

Laslow lit up at the sudden assistance. "Thank you so very much! You're too kind!"

She watched with towering dread as the two happily prattled on for a minute before Subaki finally took his leave, and Laslow turned back to her. His smile was hard to meet head-on. "So...?" His voice was hopeful, though his eyes said something different.

Considering his odd behavior leading up to the offer, she found herself relenting. "I suppose it'd be fun to get a bit of practice in."

His confidence soon returned with a grin. "Then it's a date!"


End file.
